No-No to MX-Micro Sport

Mazda Motor Corp. will not put the MX-Micro Sport concept into production for the North American market this year because the business case is not there, officials say.

The B-segment hatchback was shown at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. At that time, the auto maker said it would go into production by year end, but officials would not confirm where the cars would be sold.

Mazda is expected to use the Paris auto show to announce its sale in Europe. Japan also likely will get a version, but North America is no longer on the list, says Robert Davis, senior vice president-marketing & product development for Mazda North American Operations.

“Working from the cost side and the revenue threshold, it just didn't (work),” Davis concludes.

The Micro Sport was derived from Mazda's current B segment platform that does not have the M2R engine family, which Davis deems essential for the U.S. “It would be too costly to engineer that engine into that car,” Davis says.

The demographic for B-segment vehicles, with the exception of the Mini, is retirees, Davis says. “Nobody's done a youth vehicle that the youth has bought, especially in the B-car segment.”